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Post Office officials risk imprisonment if they fail to hand over important documents to the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal, after its chair issued an ultimatum following a series of disclosure failures.
Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, announced on Friday that requests for evidence from the state-owned operator would be mandated by law, with a maximum penalty of 51 weeks’ imprisonment.
The decision highlights the inquiry chair’s frustration over the Post Office’s handling of the scandal, where hundreds of postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted for theft between 2000 and 2013 because of an IT system fault.
MPs labelled the scandal one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in recent legal history, with hundreds of former postmasters still awaiting compensation.
In a statement, Williams said that action was needed to “guard against the possibility” that some representatives were “unwilling or unable to comply strictly with requests”.
The move comes after the Post Office’s legal team failed to provide documents ahead of an inquiry evidence session in Aldwych House in London this week.
In an urgent disclosure hearing on Tuesday, the inquiry chair called the failure “grossly unsatisfactory” and said the hearing would have to be delayed for several weeks.
Documents published in May following a Freedom of Information request by campaigner Eleanor Shaikh, revealed that the Post Office’s internal compliance teams used racial markers to label fraud suspects. These were not turned over to the inquiry alongside other relevant files.
The decision to set legal penalties represents a marked escalation by the inquiry and will apply maximum legal pressure on Post Office officials, according to one person familiar with the matter.
In May, the Post Office’s chief executive, Nick Read, was forced to apologise after senior staff were awarded unauthorised bonuses for complying with the investigation, prompting a rebuke by Williams.
The Post Office inquiry was placed on statutory footing in February last year and has since taken evidence from witnesses involved or affected by the scandal.
A new government compensation scheme was opened in March for claims to replace the old one, after criticism that some victims had to use their settlements to cover their legal costs.
Despite the Post Office paying out £100mn in compensation under previous schemes it is still unclear how many people are eligible for payments. The government has set aside £1bn in total compensation.
The public inquiry has already been affected by a number of setbacks, including Williams falling ill last month which resulted in hearings being postponed for several days.
The Post Office apologised for the late disclosure of documents: “We have taken urgent steps, including increasing external expert resource, to put this right as quickly as possible.”
